Comments on: How to Make Herbal Soap Without Handling Lye {+ triple aloe melt & pour recipe} https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/making-soap-without-lye/ DIY Herbal Recipes, Soap Making & Body Care Projects Wed, 24 Jun 2026 23:46:19 +0000 hourly 1 By: Jan https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/making-soap-without-lye/#comment-99318 Thu, 19 Sep 2024 11:09:17 +0000 http://thenerdyfarmwife.com/?p=3841#comment-99318 In reply to Satyajay Mandal.

Hi Satyajay! I did some research and found this study that uses ashes from burned banana leaves to make soap.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341479612_Preparation_of_Soap_Using_Banana_Peel_and_Olive_Tree_Ashes
I misunderstood and thought you meant plain dried banana leaf powder (similar to dried herbal tea powder), but now I understand they are burned into ashes and further processed into a type of potash.
This is similar to how our great grandparents used wood ashes to make old fashioned soap.
You have taught me something new and interesting about banana leaves! :)
(EDIT: Ooops, it’s early morning and my brain is not awake yet. I just realized at second glance that the study is about banana peels. However, it also mentions other agricultural waste products, so I believe the sentiment would still hold.)

]]> By: Satyajay Mandal https://thenerdyfarmwife.com/making-soap-without-lye/#comment-99314 Thu, 19 Sep 2024 07:12:40 +0000 http://thenerdyfarmwife.com/?p=3841#comment-99314 You might be right Jan, still whatever I told you earlier is necessary, as the banana leaf extract is an alkali and both butter and ghee are fats, and if you heat the mixture, then it will surely form a soap due to a saponification reaction between banana leaf powder or banana leaf paste and melted ghee or melted form of butter which is because soap is the chemical result of the reaction between fats and an alkali, and it was used by the olden day grandpas and grandmas for making soap, it was possible as the only active chemical of banana leaf is KOH which is a kind of lye, owing to its much bitter taste.

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